It’s my nature to worry

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank Him for his answers."- Philippians 4:6, Living Bible

Is worry really wrong? Who would deny that there is plenty to worry about–the state of the economy, security, your health, your marriage, your children, getting cancer, the polluted environment, and a long, long list of other concerns.

"It’s my nature to worry–that’’s the way God made me! I just can’t help it," some say, and I admit that I am not always known by the smoothness of my brow. I’ve taken a second, hard look at this issue as the result of reading a manuscript written by my friend, a Christian physician, who contends that some people can no more help worrying than they can help aging. He believes they have a biological propensity to worry, just as some people may have a tendency towards poor eyesight or a receding hairline. You get it from your parents, he stresses. While I admit that some people may have more of a biological tendency to worry than others do, can I really go so far as to make the practice acceptable before God by putting the blame on my genetic code, which effectively would let me off the hook?

In either case, I have to confront several passages of Scripture which clearly make the point that worry is contrary to God’s plan and purpose for my life. First, Jesus had a lot to say about this subject in the Sermon on the Mount, (Matthew 57), where He talked about the birds of the air that are fed by our Heavenly Father and then chided the disciples about worrying over their clothes and what they would eat.

Paul didn’t mince words either when he said, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6).

This means, then, that if God says I should not worry, there must be an antidote to this whole problem. Yes, I confess that on occasion I do worry, because it seems there are threatening situations which I don’t like and I can’t do anything about, and these aspects bring the whole issue of control into the picture. When I’m fully in control, I can do something, even though it may be very little, to change a situation. When I’m not in control, however, that’s different, and the question goes beyond my control to God’s. Is He in control of what I can’t handle? "Of course," you say. Worry in effect says, "God, if You are really there, I’m not sure that You are big enough to handle this, so I had better spend my time thinking about what I’m going to do if You fail."

Is there a solution to this problem in which we all indulge? Simply put, it is learning to put into His hands what we cannot change and learning more about His nature and character, which will give us confidence that He is able to take care of the storms in our lives.

I suggest you read Isaiah 40, which talks about God’s great power of creation, and then go back and read Proverbs 3:5,6, which talks about trusting Him and ignoring the signs which cause us to worry and acknowledging Him in all we do. Remind yourself that He who created our world neither slumbers or sleeps. Then turn out the light and go to sleep. He’ll take the night shift and the day shift to follow. He never fails. - Resource reading: Matthew 6:25-34

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